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The hunt is on for a ruthless killer who viciously beat, raped and murdered a 34-year-old woman in her Rexdale home.

Toronto Police say Sylvia Consuelo was alone in her apartment at 121 Kendleton Dr., near Kipling Ave. and Albion Rd., when security cameras captured a suspect entering the highrise with bad intentions around 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 30.

“I think he knows exactly what he’s going to do when he walks into that building,” Det.-Sgt. Hank Idsinga said Friday of the suspicious man, whose face was hidden by a scarf as he headed up to Consuelo’s unit.

But the end didn’t come quickly for Consuelo.

“Over the next hour, (a man) brutally sexually assaulted Sylvia, beat her and suffocated her to death.” Idsinga said.

The suspect was again captured by surveillance cameras casually strolling out of the Toronto Community Housing building.

“It’s a little unnerving to see how calm and cool he is when he walks out of there,” Idsinga said.

He said friends stopped by Consuelo’s apartment around 4:45 a.m. and found her body.

Those who knew Consuelo describe her as “very quiet with a petite build,” Idsinga said.

Consuelo, a mother of three young kids who were no longer in her care, had her share of problems. Idsinga said she struggled with mental-health and drug problems and “supported her addictions through prostitution.”

“In short, Sylvia was an extremely vulnerable resident of our city,” he said.

A resident of the building, who asked not to be named, said he met Consuelo two weeks ago when she knocked on his apartment door with some items she was trying to sell.

“She told me she had been robbed and needed money for food,” the man said.

After hearing Consuelo’s story, he agreed to lend her some cash until she received her government cheque.

True to her word, Consuelo repaid her $50 debt the day before she was killed and even gave him a thank you note.

“I think that speaks highly of her character,” the man said. “Why in the hell would anybody want to hurt her?”

The suspect’s face is covered in the security video, but investigators released the footage hoping someone will recognize him from the way he walks or his clothing.